Clemson Paralympic Soccer Creative Inquiry
Skye Arthurbanning, Kirsten Windbiel, Molly Oroho, Olivia McNelly, Ramneek Chhatwal, and Isabelle Dodson
Overview
Clemson Paralympic Soccer Creative Inquiry students are given many unique opportunities to become emerging leaders at Clemson University through their adaptive soccer programming. The class’s main mission is to run adaptive soccer camps for veterans with disabilities. Each camp allows the veterans to be exposed to adaptive sports opportunities with a focus on soccer but many other sports as well. In 2020-2021, the program will seek to run 15 camps all over the United States. Students are involved with planning the camps, working directly with the injured military veterans, and collecting data surrounding best practices, program evaluation, and impact. Students learn how to network in order to recruit participants for our various programs as well as engage in active communication with professionals nationally. In addition to our camps, students have composed grants to start a program seeking to lessen the detrimental effects of isolation for our injured military veteran partners. Furthermore, we host a residential training program, featuring two of our athletes from the paralympic soccer team, in which students have the opportunity to help with the training sessions. Many students have been able to publish articles about varying topics in adaptive sports, including publications on the International Federation of Cerebral Palsy Football website. There are several certifications offered to students that can be utilized outside of the university and CI experience. These include specialized Mental Health First Aid and the Blaze Adaptive Sports training. Finally, professional development has become a large part of our program, helping students understand how to condense their CI experience into useful skills to market themselves in the professional world.
Fall 2021 Class
- Clemson University has recently singed two additional fall 2021 recruits, Kevin George McCandish and Gavin Kohner who will join Shea Hammond and Tim Huff with the Paralympic Soccer Residential Training Program (RTP).
- RTP is an incredible opportunity for athletes with disabilities that allows players to continue playing collegiate soccer while earning their degree. These players receive in-state tuition waivers in form of an athletic scholarship.
- Clemson is the only school with a program like this, preparing players for the US Para National Team and is an incredible opportunity for soccer players with disabilities.
VA Camps
- Students recruit participants nationally, practicing their communication and outreach skills.
- While planning each camp, we have to diligently prepare to accommodate for varying disabilities, promoting inclusivity in our everyday lives.
- Participants can earn a grassroots coaching certification and MHFA certification, as well as introduced to many community involvement opportunities.
- Athletes are introduced to adaptive sports and they can take their skills from camp, including both athletic and mental skills, and influence others.
Approximate Number of Veterans Served
Other Opportunities
- Professional Development
- Grant writing
- Learning how to make connections and uphold professional relationships
- Resume building and interview practice
- The ability to tailor involvement to better suit personal goals
- Experience working with people with disabilities
- Insight on inclusivity
- Understanding how disabilities work and how they affect everyday life
- Introduction to adaptive weight training as well as other adaptive activities
- Practice with activity modification to better suit different abilities
- Blaze Adaptive Sports: Certified Adaptive Recreation and Sports Specialist (CARSS):
-
- CARSS reflects more accurately where the field of adaptive sports and recreation has evolved.
- Core content areas of the CARSS certification include:
- History of adaptive sports & related laws; understanding disabilities & disability awareness; program planning, implementation & evaluation; risk management & injury prevention; partnership building; recruitment & promotion; and adaptive equipment and facilities.
- Publication Opportunities
- Many students have published several articles on varying topics in the adaptive sport community